Seton Hall Dean Emerita Receives Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to Spain

On Aug 30, 2024

Karen Boroff, Ph.D., professor of management and dean emerita, Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to Madrid, Spain, for the 2025 spring semester from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Following 35 years of distinguished academic service at Seton Hall, Professor Boroff will wield her expertise in management, human resources, labor relations, and negotiations for her Fulbright project, “Leadership, Creativity, Collaborations: Transforming Concepts into Practice,” at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), in Madrid, Spain. UPM is a partner school with the Management Center Innsbruch, Austria, where Boroff served as a visiting professor and Seton Hall has a thriving relationship.

The project will focus on equipping leaders with competencies in change management, as all higher education institutions seek to navigate the ever-changing landscape of academe.

Boroff has been in discussions with her faculty collaborator and mentor Isabel Ortiz-Marcos, Ph.D., a mechanical engineer who holds a doctoral degree in industrial engineering from UPM, where she is also an associate professor of engineering projects and project management. Ortiz also is a certified project manager professional (PMP)® by the Project Management Institute since 2006.

“We look forward to Dr. Boroff’s work with the leadership team at UPM on the practice of change management as a Fulbright-UPM Visiting Professor. She will offer workshops throughout the spring 2025 semester to help advance our expertise in managing change at our institution,” said Ortiz, adding, “Dr. Boroff’s learning modules on leadership will widen our resources for students who want to improve their own ability to lead teams. In addition, I look forward to collaborating with her on preparing a case study in Spanish and English to submit to a case research conference in June and for eventual publication. More broadly, UPM hopes to find other ways for collaborations between our institution and Seton Hall University.”

This Spring Break, one such collaboration will provide Seton Hall students with the unique opportunity to participate in an international trip and study Organizational Behavior, BMGT 2503, at UPM, enabling them to immerse themselves in Spanish culture while completing a core business requirement in an intensive manner, from March 3 through 7, 2025.

“Students can become a Madrileño/a for a week at our host university, one of the finest in Spain,” noted Boroff. She added, the two institutions aspire to sign a collaborative agreement to enhance the educational experiences of the students we serve, as well as to foster faculty and administrator exchanges. Similar to Management’s MCI agreement in Destination and Event Management, they are exploring an articulation agreement between the two institutions and potential blended exchanges are considering academic certificates in fashion design, a blended engineering and entrepreneurship certificate as well as other potential offerings.

“Universidad Politécnica de Madrid is among the best engineering universities in Spain. This is a fitting cap to Karen’s legacy and her impact on our University. She has advanced our pedagogy as a professor and dean at the Stillman School,” said Katia Passerini, Ph.D., Provost and Senior Executive Vice President. Passerini added, “Serving as Interim Provost and Executive Vice President, she led the formation of a University-wide leadership development program for undergraduate students, championed budget transparency through responsibility-centered management, and instituted innovative summer learning experiences, including bootcamps in cybersecurity and entrepreneurial endeavors. She also initiated the University’s faith-based outreach, engaging with faith leaders across New Jersey.”

“The Fulbright award is a perfect opportunity for Dr. Boroff, whose empathy, leadership and cultural sensitivity are well known at Seton Hall. I have no doubt that she will make vital contribution as a Fulbrighter in Spain,” said James J. Kimble, Ph.D., Fulbright Liaison for the campus and professor of communication.

A Distinguished Life of Service

In addition her academic achievements, Boroff has served with several volunteer associations; she currently volunteers her time at her local parish, St. Patrick in Chatham, where she is a Eucharistic Minister and teaches religious education to elementary school children.
Boroff earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell University, an M.B.A. from Lehigh University and her Ph.D. from Columbia University. She is married to Joel Boroff and has two children, both who are majors in the United States Army.

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